Profile

My Work

I’m looking for a way to successfuly freeze cells, tissues and organs so we can keep them longer and ensure they can be successfully transfused or transplanted.

My Typical Day: After a breakfast fit for a champion, my day starts with checking on my growing cells before running experiments in the lab, occassionally a little bit of teaching and finally a session at the gym picking up heavy things with my friends before I go to bed, ready to start again!.

What I'd do with the money

I would like to use the prize-money to modify a car jack so that it can be used to convert solid chocolate pieces into flexible chocolate laces. The jack would be a wonderful device to explain how pressure, not just heat, can change the chemical structure of materials. Plus, who doesn’t love a bit of flexible chocolate!

My Interview

• How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

  nerdy, sporty and surprisingly tiny

  What's the best thing you've done in your career?

  I built a fully functioning model of a stirling engine (see here:https://youtu.be/CkMrrZhxC4g)

  Were you ever in trouble at school?

  All of the time – I was never very good at being quiet and sitting still. Too many questions to things I didn’t understand.

  If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

  A carpenter or a brick layer

  Who is your favourite singer or band?

  The Barenaked Ladies

  What's your favourite food?

  anything that has bacon :)

  What is the most fun thing you've done?

  Be a guest on the naked scientist radio show!

  Tell us a joke.

  What’s grey and goes round and round ? An elephant in a washing machine!